Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

Bottles and breastfeeding

54 replies

SophieStripe · 30/08/2018 16:50

Hi... I'm currently pregnant with my first baby and planning on breastfeeding for as long as possible. I will be off work for a year but obviously during that year there may/will be times when baby is left with dad or grandparents or what have you. My close friend wants to give me advice around introducing bottles with formula (because expressing is a faff) ASAP. I know it's all personal but is this the right approach? I don't really want to give formula if I can help it (not that there is anything wrong with formula before you all shout at me!) I just don't want to. I personally think that it is just more convenient, and cheaper, to just breastfeed. Having said that, if I want to go get a haircut or something and leave baby with dad, I also want him to be able to feed him. So when should I start trying to express and introduce bottles? Should I just use formula as she suggests?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

beccii161016 · 30/08/2018 17:05

There's no real right time, it's when it feels right for you and baby. That being said, I wouldn't leave it too long if a big thing for you is dad and others being able to feed little one. Obviously breastfeeding will mean you doing most of the feeding and if you leave it too long to introduce dad or another person feeding, baby may not take to it too well and you may have some problems.

In terms of expressing vs formula, that's completely your decision. A lot of moms breastfeed for 6 months and then move on to follow on formula but some breastfeed for 12 months or beyond. See how expressing works for you and go from there.

ShutTheFridgeUp · 30/08/2018 17:10

If I knew I had plans I used to express the day before so I knew there would be enough. Wasn't a hassle at all and DD self weaned at just over 2 years old

Enwi · 30/08/2018 17:11

Lots of people warned me to introduce a bottle early on because otherwise you run the risk of them not accepting one.
I ended up not having a choice as DD was poorly and born premature with a posterior tongue tie so could only take a bottle at first. She was entirely bottled fed (expressed breast milk) until she was 4 weeks old and then she gradually became more and more breastfed until she was entirely fed from the breast at 6 weeks, with bottles only given at my convenience.
At 8 weeks old she decided she wasn’t taking any more bottles and hasn’t had one since. I have tried every brand and technique out there and she just won’t.
I think what I’m trying to say is don’t place too much heed on others experiences and just play it by ear when your baby is here.

InDubiousBattle · 30/08/2018 17:15

If you know you want your oh to be able to feed the baby then I would introduce bottles early and regularly. What you put in them is a personal preference really. I expressed occasionally for ds (first baby)but never for dd, both were mix fed so I didn't mind them having sone formula. Expressing made me feel nauseus-it was weird! Consequently I only did it with dd for comfort.

ShackUp · 30/08/2018 17:19

I never gave formula/expressed BM and went back to work both times around 10 months.

By the age of 1, babies can have breast milk when you get home. Neither of mine missed out during the day.

Original poster

SophieStripe · 30/08/2018 17:24

Thanks for all your advice. I know that my opinions may change drastically once baby is here (as probably lots of clueless first time mums do!). If I need formula I'll use it, I'm not gonna get worked up about it, but I would like to at least try expresssing. Dad feeding etc is for bonding a little, but actually more (selfishly) that I can do a few 'normal' things. I think dad would like it too if he could. I plan to breastfeed (plus add in food) until baby is about a year old so it would be nice if I could have a night off once or twice in that time and I think it's good for dad's to 'go it alone' a bit! From what I am hearing, it is best to introduce bottles early (4 weeks?) but depending on the baby, it will or won't work and we are just going to have to wait and see what our baby is like!

OP posts:

Hatstand · 30/08/2018 17:25

You could try using something like the haaka pump which collects milk from one breast while you're feeding from the other. Cheap and no faff -until baby learns how to kick it off I never bothered with any other kind of pump and left DD numerous times. From about 9 months she had a few formula feeds a week and now just has whole milk. Still bf I found it amazing how many people tell you in the early days that you must use formula or your life will be over, but it certainly wasn't true in our case. It's your choice either way.

OutPinked · 30/08/2018 17:29

Get an electric breast pump, the manual ones are a total PITA. It’s not so difficult with an electric one, you just hold it and it does all the work for you.

TroubledLichen · 30/08/2018 17:32

You might not find expressing a faff, best to wait and see once baby arrives, so your friend’s advice that you need to introduce formula is a little odd as it’s different for everyone. But I do agree with her that it’s good to introduce a bottle early if you can. It just gives you so much more freedom whether it’s to get a decent night’s sleep whilst Dad does the feeds, a night away, to go and get your hair done etc. etc.

InDubiousBattle · 30/08/2018 17:34

With ds we had to top him up with f as he was still losing weight at 11 days old. He had a tongue tie and a generally cap start to bf.

With dd we chose to mix feed and introduced a bottle at around15/16 days old. Tiny, tiny amounts at first and only ever once a day (last feed of the day so I could get an early night )at first. After the initial few weeks she would have a very occasional extra bottle if I needed to do something but I mainly just gave her a bottle at bedtime and bf the rest of the time. I would suggest holding off until feeding has settled down a little as expressing ofetn will encourage you to produce more milk so if you pump lots in the the early days you might get over supply. Also, some of my friends just can't express, ebf their babies perfectly well but couldn't get anything out with any or the many pumps they tried.

lambdroid · 30/08/2018 17:43

I couldn’t get mine to take a bottle. We tried with expressed milk from about 5 weeks as it took a long time for me to get feeding properly established and comfortable.

In retrospect, I wish I’d tried the bottle with formula as I put so much time and effort into expressing (wasn’t easy for me) and most of it went to waste. It was incredibly and unexpectedly stressful.

We did eventually manage, but not until after 6 months and never with a normal bottle teat.

There’s no right or wrong, and it may not go as you hope. I was always happy to listen to any advice, tried the bits I liked the sound of and ignored the rest.

kenandbarbie · 30/08/2018 17:52

I used to give one bottle of formula a day, the evening feed, dh would do it. I did that straight away so ds was used to it and I could always leave him if I needed to. I will do the same with dd when she arrives.

Original poster

SophieStripe · 30/08/2018 17:57

Thanks that's really helpful. I too am happy to listen to advice and will take the bits that make sense to me and leave the rest! I am just a bit dubious sometimes as some of my friends who have kids seem to have a lot of baby drama/stress that I don't think is necessary! (I will happily stand corrected in a few months time though!). So I wanted to test this particular piece of advice out with a few other people first. I'm going to buy an electric pump and see how I get on. If it's a faff I'll try formula and if that also fails I will just take baby to the hairdressers with me!

OP posts:

Original poster

SophieStripe · 30/08/2018 18:00

Kenandbarbie I think that's the kind of thing she is suggesting. I just don't want to give formula if I don't have to. It actually seems more hassle to buy and make etc if I am getting on well with breastfeeding/expressing but maybe the benefits are worth it in terms of independence...

OP posts:

Nutkins24 · 30/08/2018 18:02

I found that Expressing is only a faff if you’re doing it constantly in place of feeding (which I did for a week). For a one off occasion that’s planned like a haircut or night out it was manageable. I had an electric pump (a medela one ). My dd took a bottle at about 3 months. I didnt want to give her formula before 6 months. After 9months I was back at work 2 days and we used the occasional ready made formula for the day time feed. This worked well and I’d do it that way again.

Original poster

SophieStripe · 30/08/2018 18:06

Thanks nutkins. That's what I would like to do... Just express for a few planned things like a night out or something. I think I will try at around 3 months and see what happens. We have a wedding at around 5 months to go to so it would be great if baby had cracked the bottle by then, so I could have an adult drink of my own!

OP posts:

Sandstormbrewing · 30/08/2018 18:07

We waited the 'recommended' 6 weeks before introducing the bottle and DS would not take it at all, absolutely screamed the place down. I found it so tying and very frustrating. Made me resent baby and breastfeeding. He was so reliant on me and I couldn't leave him for more than a few minutes (he fed very frequently) and didn't get a night off and ended up really quite ill due to the lack of sleep (he didn't sleep more than 90 minutes for 8 months).

I won't be breastfeeding DC2 because of my experience with DC1 and would urge anyone who thinks they want to do any bottle feeding at all to introduce one asap.

Sandstormbrewing · 30/08/2018 18:08

You can breastfeed and have alcohol though! As long as you are sober enough to look after the baby you are sober enough to breastfeed the baby.

Nutkins24 · 30/08/2018 18:12

Yes we went to a wedding at 3 months and left baby with my mum. She’d never take a bottle from me at first though but was fine when left with someone else. Maybe a few practice runs if you’re going to be leaving them and can’t dash back.

Mammmoo · 30/08/2018 18:15

I think introducing the bottle earlier is better. My first I waited til 3 months and she wouldn't have it at all. Tried all the bottles and wasted so much precious pumped milk! With my current one she was bottle fed for the first 2 weeks due to being premature and jaundice sleepiness/weight loss, we then worked really hard to reestablish breastfeeding and have done a bottle a few times a week since and she seems to be fine with them. Means I can go to the gym and hairdressers :-)

smeerf · 30/08/2018 18:18

Breastfeeding is based on supply and demand. If you give formula, your body assumes the baby doesn't need as much milk and produces less. Maybe then you start using more formula as a result, your supply decreases further, etc.

I work 2 days a week and have done for months (DS is 6 months old and EBF). My mum feeds him exprrssed milk in a bottle on those days. Once you've built up a small stash in the freezer it's really easy to maintain, as every time you feed the baby your expressed milk, you just express the same amount (to maintain your supply) and freeze it. It's no more a faff than making up formula, in fact i'd argue it's more convenient as you do it in advance rather than trying to mix up a bottle while a tiny baby is screaming at you.

Original poster

SophieStripe · 30/08/2018 18:18

Sandstormbrewing the plan would be NOT to be sober enough to look after the baby! Hehe

OP posts:

Original poster

SophieStripe · 30/08/2018 18:23

The baby will be with me and fed from me probably 95% of the time, this will be for the odd planned events rather than something once a week... That's a good point about letting someone else introduce the bottle rather than me. I get that introducing the bottle earlier has more chance of it being accepted but I don't want to use formula incase it does affect supply and I don't want to start expressing before I'm settled into breastfeeding. We will see how it goes but from what you have all said I think we will start to try around 2/3 months old. If it doesn't work then so be it...hopefully it will!

OP posts:

Moody123 · 30/08/2018 18:48

I think the guidelines say not to introduce a bottle before 6 weeks, to save nipple confusion:
I now can't leave my EBF 18 month old as he never took a bottle, when I have another I will be giving expressed from 3 weeks.

I had a couple of bottle of ready made stuff in just incase but never needed them.

Don't forget if your expressing, you'll need to express when your DH feeds so you keep your supply regulated (until 6 months)

Missikat · 30/08/2018 18:55

With DS1 I started expressing once at day when he was about a month old (he was already well established with breastfeeding). I used to feed him one side and express the other for his morning feed, (not for everyone but it worked for me and meant I was maximising the time I was sat down with him any way!). DH then started giving him one bottle at bedtime of expressed milk. I was lucky in that DS loved his food and wasn't too concerned where it came from! I stopped expressing after about 4 months (I think) and then changed the bedtime bottle to formula. Personally having this flexibility at bedtime really worked and meant on the rare occasion I wanted to go out I didn't have to be at home for bedtime. I hope it all goes well for you. It's great to have plans but also to be prepared to change them as babies often don't do what you want or expect!

Flip

1 2 3